how is washington preparing for this? guest: usually there is a lot of talk about the doc fix at the end of the year. it is just one of many issues facing congress. even though it has become bigger, you hear less about it right now because of all the other issues that are happening. you do see doctors on the hill lobbying on the issue wanting to make sure the pay cut does not go through and they want to make sure that revenues do not get cut in the process, that certain reimbursement levels are not being lost for them. host: back in 2002, doctors -- congress did not implement the doc fix. what led to their inaction years ago? guest: my understanding was the first year it happened, it was a smaller cut. we were not looking at the 26% cut at that point. it had been working for the past five years. i think that is why in 2003 you saw people saying we are not taking a cut again. host: if you are a physician, what should you prepare for? guest: there have been a few times where they have gone past the deadline by a few weeks a